4 Tips That Improve Time Management in Middle School

Learning can be difficult for kids at any age but between more rigorous academics, hormonal changes and challenging social dynamics, middle school can be particularly rough. If you want to set your child up for academic success during the early teen years, they need to be good managers of their time. But good time management hinges on several factors. Here are some ideas for how you can support your middle schooler so they can manage their time and succeed in school.

#1: Teach your child how to minimize stress and manage it effectively

If your student is stressed, they will struggle. Period. If you want to help your child reduce their stress level while maximizing their academic potential, address these three main bases: food, exercise and sleep.

Make sure you keep healthy foods on hand.

Find out what your child prefers as a breakfast go-to so they can start their day off with a nutritious meal or hearty breakfast snack before they head out the door. Encourage them to pack colorful, healthy, balanced lunches and limit or avoid sugary drinks. Try to limit unhealthy snack options at home so they’re more likely to grab a piece of fruit, a cheese stick, nuts or something similar when they’re holed away studying.

Teach your child that food in their body is like gas in a car—it’s what their body runs on. And it will only run well if they put in high-quality fuel each day. Healthy meals and snacks can help your child feel strong, steady and confident, making it easier for them to manage their time and focus on their academics. On the other hand, meals high in simple carbs, unhealthy fats, sugar and caffeine can make them feel weak, tired, jittery and anxious and promote cramming and rushing through studying and homework.

Exercise helps increase the amount of endorphins your child’s body produces.

These endorphins are neurotransmitters that tell your child’s brain they feel good. Endorphins promote relaxation and lower feelings of anxiety. That’s why, after a stressful day, many people are in the habit of going for a run to relax and unwind.

In addition, a 2016 study published in Cell Metabolism found that, when a person exercises, their muscles produce cathepsin B. This substance encourages nerve growth in the hippocampus region of the brain. Because the hippocampus is responsible for learning and memory, when students started exercising regularly and had more cathepsin B in their blood, they scored better on memory tests.

Yep, exercising makes learning easier!

We’d be remiss if we didn’t “nod” at the importance of getting a good night’s sleep!

When your child gets the sleep they need, they will be much more relaxed, alert and focused inside and outside the classroom. Side note: getting regular exercise promotes quality sleep!

#2: Teach your child how to get and stay organized

One major source of stress for students is a lack of organization. This can become a problem during the middle school years when students are expected to take on more responsibility with their academics and extracurriculars.

You can help your child manage their time by giving them some valuable tools to get and stay organized:

• Purchase a physical planner or find a user-friendly planner app where they can record assignments and their due dates, upcoming tests, project deadlines and sports practices, music lessons or other extracurricular activities.
• Purchase color-coordinating notebooks and folders for each subject so they can easily find their materials when they need them.
• Make sure they have a designated comfortable, distraction-free study space with ample lighting.
• Purchase baskets, pencil cups or other desktop accessories that will help them keep their study space organized.

#3: Teach your child how to set goals

When your middle schooler lays out their goals, it’s easier to formulate and find purpose in the daily incremental steps it takes to accomplish them. But goal setting isn’t easy and most kids need some coaching to get started.

Help your child create a list of short-term and long-term goals. Short-term goals could include getting their homework done and turned in on time (encourage them to utilize their planner to record what needs to be done and when), making it to all their weekly practices, studying for Friday’s test, etc. Longer-term goals could include getting an “A” on a project that isn’t due for 6 weeks and requires a lot of research and preparation or nailing their solo performance in the spring recital.

Once your child writes down their goals, help them think through what they need to do each day or each week to chip away at those goals. After all, the best way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time!

Hot tip! Sit down with your student each weekend and help them map out the upcoming week. Make sure they have all of their homework, upcoming test dates and extracurricular activities written down in their planner. (They won’t know everything a week in advance but this is a good start!) Encourage them to keep track of their longer-term goals in the margin. Help them prioritize their tasks and map out a general plan of when they will study for, practice for or work on what.

#4: Utilize available resources

If your child is struggling, don’t expect they will just “get through it.” Make sure you stay in communication with their teachers and school counselor. If they were out sick or gone on vacation and missed an important concept, utilize peer tutoring or encourage them to meet with their teacher after class to go over it in detail.

If your child continues to struggle with time management, organization, goal setting, completing homework efficiently or feeling overwhelmed, take our free brain quiz and consider signing up for our cognitive skills assessment. Oftentimes weak cognitive skills lie at the heart of these struggles. However, cognitive skills can be boosted through fun and engaging activities that challenge their brains and help form new neural pathways. When cognitive skills are strong, learning is easier!